Your home can bring your great joy and comfort all year round. But if you feel sick every time you enter your home, your air ducts could contain mold. Although blotches of mold generally show up in bathrooms, kitchens, and other places that use water, mold can also grow inside air ducts. Learn more about the possible mold inside your air ducts and how you can remove the fungus below.

How Does Mold Get Inside Air Ducts?

You may have heard about sick building syndrome and how it affects commercial and public settings. But you may not know that residential homes can become "sick" as well. Poor air quality is generally one of the biggest reasons buildings become sick. Poor air quality can occur in residential homes that have damp or moist air ducts. 

Air ducts work with your cooling system to keep your home's humidity levels low. However, houses that build up with humid air can allow moisture to settle inside their air ducts. The dampness inside the ducts attracts all sorts of contaminants, including mold spores.

Mold spores can spread or grow rapidly once they find a good place to reside. Some of the spores can leave your duct system and enter the environment inside your home. People who inhale the spores may experience a variety of strange symptoms, including coughing and headaches. Mold can also cause skin ailments in some children and adults. 

If you suspect mold inside in your air duct system, remove it right away.

Is There a Way to Clean Up Your Air Duct System?

First, contact HVAC contractors in your area and schedule an air duct inspection appointment. Contractors can examine the inside cavities of your air ducts and determine whether or not mold is responsible for your illness. Mold can also grow inside drainage pipes and wet crawl spaces. Contractors may want to eliminate these places before they clean out your air ducts.

If contractors don't find mold anywhere else in your home, contractors will:

• access your air ducts through the vents in your home
• use a special brush or vacuum
• dry out your air ducts

After HVAC contractors remove the contaminants from your ducts, they may inspect your air conditioning units to see if they contain mold as well. If the units do harbor mold, air conditioning contractors may clean them.

If you think your home is sick with mold, contact an HVAC company for air duct cleaning services today.